Rookie maximums for at-bats (130), games pitched (30) or innings (50) in the major leagues"

If the 2 leaders are within 5% of each other, or the leader has less than 35% there will be a run-off between the top 2.*Rosario ineligible*Dom ineligible

P.S. don't stress too much if you feel player X deserves to be on this list vs. player Y. In my view there isn't anyone "unlisted" who would be in the mix for #1 overall. If you feel someone going forward should be in consideration just mention him. Thanks.

Szapucki is probably the highest ceiling guy there, but with the TJ surgery, can't rank him in the first couple of names here. Peterson and Gimenez look like the most obvious top 2, in some order.

Both Gimenez and Guillorme are lefty hitting middle infielders, who can definately stay at SS. That's a pretty valuable profile to me. At least it gives you a very useful floor. Gimenez obviously thought to have the higher ceiling there.

I'm thinking Peterson, Gimenez, then maybe the rest are risky enough I really will go with Szapucki. Alonso also probably top 5.

J.J. Cooper: Lindsay didn’t get great reviews from scouts. And scouts do notice where a guy hits in the order…the place Lindsay hit most? 3-hole. Second most? batting ninth. He had as much games batting seventh-eighth-ninth as he did hitting 3-4-5. Scouts didn’t like the swing.

J.J. Cooper: Lindsay didn’t get great reviews from scouts. And scouts do notice where a guy hits in the order…the place Lindsay hit most? 3-hole. Second most? batting ninth. He had as much games batting seventh-eighth-ninth as he did hitting 3-4-5. Scouts didn’t like the swing.

It's an organizational problem when you have the highest ceiling guy on the roster batting at the bottom of the lineup. Performance be damned, guys like Lindsay shouldn't be batting that low.

_________________Baseball has a way of ripping your ❤️ out, stabbing it, putting it back in your chest, then healing itself just in time for Spring Training. - Thor

Andres (Queens): What's a good comp to Andres Gimenez in terms of his offensive profile? I've read good things from Badler, but is Gimenez's potential more of a solid bat as opposed to a top hitter?

J.J. Cooper: The ceiling on Gimenez has barely been sketched out in pencil yet. His top-line potential is as an elite middle infielder, because as an 18-year-old who is twitchy and has feel for the bat, there’s a chance he takes a pretty big step forward over the next 4-5 years. But all of these projections fall along a spectrum. Spitballing, let’s say there’s a 10-15 percent chance that Gimenez ends up as a .290-.300 hitter with good OBPs, 15+ HRs and plus defense. That’s a pretty significant big leaguer, all-star in his best years. More likely he ends up as a grade worse hitter and with maybe a little less power and there are differing views on how good his glove will be. So let’s say that means there’s a 30-40 percent chance he’s a fringe first-division regular/solid second division guy. If the bat or the glove doesn’t develop as expected, there’s another 20-30 percent shot he’s a backup middle infielder who plays SS well enough to get big league time, think a lesser Wilmer Difo-type. And then there’s a 25-40 percent chance the bat is significantly less than expectations and he’s a long-time minor leaguer. Add all that up and that’s a pretty good prognosis for an 18-year-old LoA infielder.

Jake (Queens, NY): I realize he was never going to make your list, but what did scouts have to say about Tim Tebow? Do you believe he'll ever be a Major Leaguer?

J.J. Cooper: No I don’t. Tebow hit .223/.307/.344 between low and high Class A this year as a 29-year-old and he’s a poor defensive corner outfielder. That’s not a profile of a future big leaguer even if he has significant raw power.

How do they not overhaul their scouting when the farm looks THIS bad and their top picks have such poor reports? I don't get it.

Maybe they will. But the system had gradually moved up from 2013 when they were 16th, 2014 when they were 10th, and 2015 when they were 5th (according to BBA,) and Keith Law had them ranked 7th before 2017 began. Just because the farm system appears bad right now doesn't mean that it will be when these prospects graduate.

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